CFA Society Presentation

Our Carlo Marmo explaining how the “smart” bond experiment by Allen & Overy and Nivaura works. The presentation was delivered yesterday during a workshop at the CFA Society (Abu Dhabi), INSEAD Campus. Thank you to Viktorija Aksionova, CFA, Suzanna Kalendzhian, Samer Mahfouz for the engaging panel discussion that followed. As for the bond itself, the registrar is replaced by a distributed ledger; the nominee/custodian by a “smart” contract; and a new custodian holds the private keys of the bondholders. As A&O/Nivaura pointed out: “while the open public blockchain can act as an independent register and enable complete on-chain clearing and delivery versus payment settlement, transactions must be facilitated in line with key regulatory requirements. This includes investors undergoing appropriate KYC, and the proper safeguarding of client money and assets [that are achieved off-chain]”. The experiment was conducted in 2017 under the supervision of the FCA (UK). If you are a financial institution or law firm interested in experimenting with a financial contract at the regulatory sandboxes of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) or DIFC, we would like to hear from you.